ABSTRACT
Speke's first view of the Victoria Nyanza was from the southern shores. He was then exploring in a subordinate capacity, having left his superior, Richard Burton, ill of a variety of African maladies, many days' journey to the south. The story of Speke's subsequent return to England, and of his claiming and wearing the laurels for his discovery is too well known to bear repetition here. Four years later he came back with Grant, and by a devious approach, via the south end and west shore of the lake, made his way to the capital of
HISTORICAL SKETCH
Uganda, Mengo (now generally known as Kampala). The then King of Uganda, M'tesa, sent him to the north outlet of the lake, where these two explorers were the first modern white men to see that great initial swirl of the Nile over the lip of the lake, as the famous river starts on its way northward. They named this drop the Falls of Ripon, though it can hardly be considered as more than a cataract. The native name for the river was Kivira, while the lake was called Ukerewe.
